This section provides background that may be useful in understanding the invention, and does not constitute prior art.
Public companies, private companies, organizations, and the like, have a need to publish time-sensitive and factually-accurate information, selectively to individuals and other entities who need or who require such information. The word “company” can refer to a public company, a private company, an organization, and the like without limitation. It has been the common practice for a company to publish the time-sensitive company information in a selective and factually accurate report as a press release. In some cases, the press release document has needed to be selective in its distribution; and to be received only by its intended recipients by hand, mail, fax or email. If such a controlled selective distribution was not required, then the press release document may have been published in magazines, newspapers, journals, newsletters, brochures, or on the Internet to a large number of recipients. There are technical problems and limitations with a multimedia news release and with a blog that have made them an unsuitable and an unsafe pathway for a dissemination of a press release for a business.
Firstly, there is no guarantee that time-sensitive publishing standards will be followed by the copywriter. The Internet copywriter may violate the critical date and time for the distribution of the multimedia news release. The Internet copywriter, for whatever reason, may circulate a copy of the multimedia news release earlier than has been mandated by the company to some of the intended recipients or to another individual. There are many well-known instances of insider information wherein time-sensitive, factual company information was wrongfully used in a number of ways. Secondly, there is the possibility that the copywriter may relax controls in place over the distribution of the multimedia news release to its intended recipients. The copywriter may distribute the multimedia news release to less than all of its designated recipients or to a non-intended recipient. Thirdly, there is the possibility that the copywriter will commit accidental errors due to inattention that alter the accuracy of the facts reported by the multimedia news release. Fourthly, there is the possibility, albeit remote that the copywriter will intentionally commit an act of fraud and insert error(s) in the multimedia news release.
An additional problem with the process of a multimedia news release is the limited formatting control over the media product it creates and publishes. Furthermore, prior to publication of a multimedia news release, the process has the problem that the multimedia news release does not allow a preview of the precise media product that shall be published. The first viewing of a multimedia news release can only occur after publication of a multimedia news release product.
A blog is a discussion or informational site published on the Internet consisting of discrete entries or posts typically displayed in reverse chronological order with the most recent post appearing first. The discussion or information site is the work of a single individual, a small group, or many authors. Information is in the form of online personal journal entries that self-reflect and comment about events and people and use hyperlinks. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important contribution to the popularity of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art, photographs, videos, music, or audio. To facilitate the posting of content by non-technical users, a specialized content management system of weblog applications supports the authoring, editing, and publishing of blog posts and comments, with special functions for image management, web syndication, and post and comment moderation.
The writing in blogs is a forum for reactive commentary and personal opinions, as would occur in an informal social gathering. Consequently, as a fact source, blogs are biased and publish alleged facts informally. On a blog, a public company, a private company, an organization and the like cannot responsibly, credibly, and properly publish time-sensitive, factual company information in the form of a press release document.
It is against this background, and in order to solve the aforementioned problems, that various embodiments of the present invention were developed.